BOOK REVIEW: “The Last Love Song”

Daugherty delivers an unflinching, well-documented, non-judgmental, and deftly interwoven narrative for Joan Didion’s life, thus providing a captivating context for her work and her prominence as one of the United States’ seminal authors. With a research basis that spans from archival interviews to witness accounts to one-to-ones with the characters in Joan’s life (including her at-times-elusive family), Daugherty crafts a story rich in detail and essence of human experience–about someone who has always been critical of narratives themselves. Devotees of Didion, even the staunchest ones, will discover new facets of their literary idol through this book.